In 1951, there wasn't much going on in the way of organized drag racing. When a club called the Smokers wanted to do a little side-by-side racing in their hot rods, they had to do it at an abandoned airstrip outside of Bakersfield, California. Within a few years the airstrip became a dragstrip, Famoso Raceway, and the annual late-winter showdown got a name: The March Meet. Lucky for the Smokers.
Lucky for us, too. Ten years ago, the Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing Association revived this historic event at its original site. Now, the March Meet is the largest nostalgia drag race in the world. The program features front-engine dragsters, nitro Funny Cars, and Gassers, but the largest class, by far, is Hot Rod Eliminator. This bracket class is open to pre-'73-bodied vehicles running dial-in elapsed times between 9.60 and 12.99 seconds, with no nitrous and no electronic race devices allowed. It's the closest thing to the hot rod racing of 50 years ago.
This year, roughly 150 racers showed up at Famoso to run in Hot Rod. For some of them, this is the gateway to the Gas classes. For many others, it's the perfect class for their budget, their car, and their skill level. Most of the cars in Hot Rod have fairly basic drivetrains; a mildly modified small-block Chevy with a three-speed automatic is a typical setup. Best of all, a lot of the rods competing in the class are street cars. In some cases, the transition from street to 'strip is as simple as swapping tires and marking a dial-in time on the windows. Since there is no qualifying for the class, all you have to do to make Sunday eliminations is not break anything on Friday or Saturday. Also, being a bracket class, even a slow car has a shot at winning. Cut and good light (on a .500 tree) and run your dial-in, and you're back for the next round.
Hot Rod racing usually doesn't dominate March Meet magazine coverage, but this is the class that fills the staging lanes with racers who love running at this cool historic track, and that packs the grandstands with fans who dig these real-world doorslammers as much as they love the Fuel and Gas cars.
The Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing Association series continues at the Nitro Nationals in Las Vegas at the end of April, the Pomona Nitro Nationals at the L.A. County Fairplex in June, and the Fuel & Gas Finals back in Bakersfield in November. If you've always wanted to run your rod on the 'strip, get out there and do it. If you want to see some great grassroots drag racing, go watch these hot rods race.
For info on getting involved, call (925) 838-9876 or go to www.good-guys.com.